Abstract

The resonance theory of dissociative electron attachment developed by O’Malley and Bardsley more than thirty years ago has become an efficient tool for
ab initio calculations of dissociative attachment to diatomic molecules. We illustrate this by discussing application of non-local complex potential theory to the process of dissociative attachment to the HF molecule. For polyatomics we have developed a semiempirical
resonance method based on the one-pole approximation for the R matrix. We demonstrate results of application of this theory to methyl halides in the gas and condensed phases. Many interesting observations, particularly a strong temperature effect for methyl chloride, vibrational Feshbach resonances for methyl iodide, and condensed-matter effects in dissociative attachment to methyl- and perfluoromethyl chloride are explained by our theoretical calculations.